Texas breweries shine at Monsters of Beer

On a day when the weather teetered between glorious and wilting, 600 people showed up to sample Texas beers at the inaugural Monsters of Beer. The sold-out event in the street outside 13 Celsius was a fine way to wrap up Houston Beer Week.

On Sunday, Texas beers shared the spotlight with no one. Even with a few last-minute lineup changes — the most disappointing of which was the absence of Ranger Creek, the new San Antonio brewery — there were plenty of interesting things to sample.

In addition to local favorites Saint Arnold and Southern Star, the startup No Label Brewing of Katy had three beers on tap, and I was pleased to see the Ridgeback American Amber Ale was much improved from its Petrol Station debut in May.

Other highlights included Fort Worth-based Rahr & Sons’ Winter Warmer and the Real Ale cask version of Lost Gold IPA. The Blanco brewery consistently had the longest lines.

Two of the most appealing beers were from Austin-based (512) Brewing Co., represented on Sunday by the IPA and Pecan Porter. The latter really should be considered a Texas original, and its strong year-round sales are a testament to an increasing appetite for flavorful beers even during our notorious summer heat.

At last month’s Great American Beer Festival, (512) founder Kevin Brand talked a little bit about his 2-year-old brewery. Add his success to the long list of Texans’ bragging rights:

Also represented Sunday were Austin breweries Live Oak, Independence and Jester King. There wasn’t a stinker beer in the bunch.

2 Responses

Great time and good beer. Real Ale has always been my favorite and when you show up with some Cask Conditioned beer, that’s making a statement. No Label was the surprise of the bunch..very good! Jester King….should have had an alternative to their beer. Sorry guys.

Sorry we didn’t make it, guys! The beer just isn’t quite ready yet, and we don’t want to serve you guys anything that’s not 100%. Glad the event went well, and we’ll definitely see you next year. Go Texas!